In several live performances and rare studio recordings from the early 2000s, Nazeri—accompanied by Indian classical maestros like Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia (flute) and Zakir Hussain (tabla)—performed select Ashtapadis (the eight-versed songs) from the Gita Govinda .
At first glance, the connection seems impossible. On one side lies the Gita Govinda (Song of the Dark Lord), a sublime Sanskrit poem composed in 12th-century Odisha, India, by Jayadeva. It depicts the passionate, stormy love affair between the god Krishna and the cowherd Radha. On the other side lies the rugged, mountainous landscape of Kurdistan—a region spanning modern Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria, with its own rich tradition of epic storytelling, mystical poetry, and melancholic makams (musical modes). geetha govindam kurdish
In that suspended note, the Gita Govinda becomes, for a few minutes, a Kurdish song—and the world feels a little smaller, and a great deal more divine. In several live performances and rare studio recordings